1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to label liner materials and more particularly pertains to a new laminated liner system for providing a liner having the economy of paper liner materials and the strength of plastic film liner materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Label carrier liners are employed to carry labels that employ an adhesive, such as a pressure sensitive adhesive, on a back surface of the label structure. The carrier liner is typically coated on a front surface with a substance, such as silicone, to enhance release of the pressure sensitive adhesive from the liner prior to final application of the label to a surface. Typically, labels are manufactured at a location remote from the location at which the labels are finally applied to an end product, and the carrier liner protects the adhesive from degradation between the time of manufacture of the label and the time of application. Additionally, the carrier liner typically serves additional functions, such as carrying or supporting various components of the label structure during the label manufacturing process, and also feeding the attached labels into automated label application machinery that removes the label from the carrier liner to the surface of the end use of the label.
The use of various carrier liner materials is known in the prior art. While various materials have been employed, there are primarily two options for liner materialsxe2x80x94namely paperxe2x80x94and plastic film-based materials. The type of liner material used is often based upon its suitability for the process employed to apply the label to the surface of the end use, such as, for example, a container or other product structure. Typically, thinner (and generally weaker) materials may be used when the label is manually peeled from the liner and applied to the container, while thicker (and generally stronger) materials may need to be used when the labels are to be peeled from the liner by the automated application machinery.
Paper liner materials tend to have the most economical cost, and are especially suitable for use when the labels are applied by hand, but are less suitable for use with automatic label application machines because of the tendency of the paper liner to tear, especially if an edge of the liner has a preexisting nick or small tear. The automated application machinery often passes the relatively more flexible carrier liner over or about a sharp edge or corner so that the relatively stiffer labels adhered to the liner are induced to peel away from the liner as the liner bends about the corner. Weaker liner materials such as paper have a tendency to tear at the corner, which requires the application machinery to be stopped, the liner to be rethreaded on the machinery, and the machinery restarted. This problem can be especially pronounced when the labels are relatively larger, and impose greater stresses on the liner at the corner.
Plastic film liner material is significantly more resistant to tearing on automatic application machinery, especially at thicknesses as thick as 1.5 mils or greater, and is thus more suitable for use on the automated application machinery. However, the plastic film liner is significantly more expensive (at costs of up to two times greater or more) than liners formed of paper, so that the use of conventional plastic film liner material is generally avoided unless the strength of the plastic film liner is required to avoid tearing or other problems on automated label application machinery.
The laminated liner system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a liner having the economy of paper liner materials and the strength of plastic film liner materials.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of label liner materials now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new laminated liner system construction wherein the same can be utilized for providing a liner having the economy of paper liner materials and the strength of plastic film liner materials.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a base layer with a front face for adhering a plurality of labels thereon and a back face opposite the front face. A reinforcing layer has a front face positioned adjacent to the back face of the base layer. An adhesive adheres the front face of the reinforcing layer to the back face of the base layer. The invention also includes a method of applying the reinforcing layer to the base layer, and an apparatus for applying the reinforcing layer to the base layer.
While it may seem contra intuitive to conventional thinking in the subject matter technology to employ two layers of material laminated together as a more cost effective alternative to merely employing a single layer alone, the combination of a base layer (formed, for example, of paper) and a reinforcing layer (formed, for example, of a plastic film) permits a suitably strong carrier liner structure to be formed from a relatively thinner thickness of a relatively more expensive material (such as the plastic film) that could be suitably used by itself to carry labels.
Moreover, the ability to use thinner plastic film materials reduces the cost of the plastic film material by such a significant degree that the combined cost of the paper material and the thinner plastic film material is still significantly less than the cost of plastic film material in thicknesses typically used when the plastic film material is used alone as a carrier liner.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.